180 



Campontia eriicifdrmis. 



termination, with two similar legs : 

 the other segments are footless and 

 naked ; but a few hairs terminate the 

 anal segment, which is very slightly 

 lobate. Anus round, simple, small. 

 This animal lives among Confer- 

 vas, in pools left by the tide ; and is 

 very common in Berwick Bay. It 

 moves with considerable quickness 

 by means of its mandibles and legs ; 

 for the former seem to be as subser- 

 vient to progressive motion as the 

 latter ; and, during its progress, the 

 upper lip is considerably protruded, 



* ^f£L^?&S%5*, as shown in M 18 - c - Within the 



slightly compressed between plates fi rs t segment we observe a heart- 



of glass ; d, the under side of the i i i i i • 



anai segment. shaped lobated organ, which, al- 



though colourless and almost transparent, is undoubtedly 

 the stomach. The very short gullet enters it above ; and 

 from its inferior end a small intestine proceeds, which sud- 

 denly enlarges at the commencement of the fourth ring, and 

 continues of the same calibre to its termination at the anus. 

 This large intestine is always filled with earthy feculent 

 matter, except that portion of it which traverses the three 

 last segments, and which is usually empty. Two slender 

 thread-like vessels are to be traced winding down the sides in 

 the space between the skin and intestine ; these occasionally 

 anastomose by still slenderer transverse branches; but I 

 could not discover any common centre of departure. At the 

 end of the ninth ring there are four filiform dark-coloured 

 tubular organs, which seem to originate in the sides of the 

 intestine: they traverse the ninth and a part of the tenth 

 segment, and end apparently with free extremities. These 

 are probably hepatic vessels; and the deficiency of solid 

 feculent matter in the intestine below their origin appears to 

 prove their importance and necessariness to the proper assi- 

 milation of the food. 



When I first described this animal, its close resemblance 

 to some caterpillars was particularly mentioned ; but the sus- 

 picion of its being actually a larva did not occur to me ; for I 

 believed it to be an established fact among entomologists that 

 no insect passed its preparatory stages in sea water. I have 

 been informed, however, that Mr. MacLeay, and no higher 

 authority can be given, has proved that the worm in question 

 is the larva, probably, of some dipterous fly; and if this 

 opinion is correct (which its anatomy strongly confirms), then 

 it will follow that at least one larva naturally lives and under- 



